A trailer or another cargo vehicle which supports and transports cargo may be a flat-bed or enclosed trailer. The flat-bed trailer includes an exposed floor assembly for supporting the cargo, the floor assembly being coupled to a perimeter frame assembly including one or more side rails, a front rail, and/or a rear rail. The enclosed trailer or cargo vehicle additionally includes side walls, a front wall, a rear door, and a roof that cooperate with the floor assembly to enclose the cargo. Any of the cargo vehicle components, for example the floor assembly, side walls, roof, and/or front wall, may be a composite structure formed from various metallic and/or polymeric materials.
Due to the configuration of composite structures, coupling another component of the cargo vehicle to the composite structure by forming holes in the composite structure for mechanical fasteners (e.g., bolts, rivets) may damage a portion of the composite structure. For example, the fibers in and around the holes of the composite structure may be damaged by the tool used to form the holes and/or by the fasteners placed in the holes. Therefore, a need exists to join various components of a cargo vehicle to a composite structure of the trailer (e.g., a composite floor assembly) while preserving the structural integrity of the composite structure.